we'll see what happens. going to be an interesting few weeks. meantime dow hanging on to some 22 points on losses. that does it for us. back to headquarters. wapner and the "fast money halftime." all right, carl, thanks very much. welcome to "halftime." ho four hours to the close. we were down big last week. we have started this week on a down note. modest losses across the board. dow down 23. it's a loss of about a fifth of a percent. s&p and nasdaq following suit. here's what we're following today on the "halftime" show. the age of apple is over says one influential writer. money manager doug cass says not so fast. black thursday. serve up a helping of turkey, stuffing and shopping this thanksgiving as retailers open their doors even earlier this year. what will it mean for their stocks? first, our top story. countdown to the cliff. the clock is ticking on

lawmakers in washington to make a deal before january 1st. and stave off what many experts say will be a dark day for the financial markets and, of course, your money. is a compromise in the cards, and how can you act now to protect your portfolio? our traders for the hour, pete and jon najarian, joe terranova and guy adami have the answers. pete, what are you doing today? >> there's always opportunities out there. when you see some of those that are getting oversold in the selloff, i think those present some great opportunities to start stepping in and buying. i'm talking about specifically right now in the pharmaceutical sector i like some of those names there. oversold last week in some cases. i think there's opportunities also in some of these financials. they had a huge run obviously from august up. over 8% run. far exceeding the s&p 500 itself. then they've gotten this pullback. they've given up about half of those gains. i think there's great opportunities in some of these names. money center banks is where i would be focused. >> joe, you see opportunity or do you see reasons to be cautious? >> i think you stay cautious. we talked about it on friday.

i thought this was a three day process. if the market is going to turn, it's going to do so by tuesday. i think it's important to understand you've got the bond market closed today. to me that's important. like pete following the options market, i want the bond market to be open to see if we get some flow of capital out of there. ultimately it's going to come down to where apple can find its trough. i think that's going to lead the market into whatever direction it's going to take here. i think we're stabilize ing. i think we need more evidence tomorrow. >> guy, you watch the technic s technicals. we busted through the s&p's 200 day last week. s&p down almost 7%. dow down almost 7%. nasdaq down more than 9% since the september 14th peak. what do you do here? >> nasdaq is the one that gives me some concern. let's talk broadly about the s&p. >> nasdaq has been down five straight weeks. >> we've tis cussed the range for the s&p. we pretty much had it to the point, 1379 we talk about as the level of support. here we are now. pete and jon can speak to this as can joe. the fact that the vix is down as sharply as it is today. i use the word sharply because

in percentage terms it is. gives me some reason for optimism. i think for the first time in a while the market's sort of stammering here. you use the word -- i guess you said through the 200 day. i would agree. but you have to really close below the 200 day for a couple days, at least a week for me to get ultimately concerned. i think you have a real opportunity here at these current levels to be long the market with a very tight stop. i think it sets up now better than it has in my opinion for the last few weeks. >> so, dr. j., what do you do here? you come off a pretty dismal week last week. fiscal cliff is all over the headlines. it's going to be that way for the next six weeks at least. what do you do with your money right here, right now? >> well, judge, we all hope we're not going to be at the fiscal cliff for six weeks. we would hope the president who got the majority of the votes would step up and be a leader and basically go over and greet the speaker over there on the house side and find a deal.

if they can do that, judge, we'll see volumes return. doesn't mean we see a knee jerk boom to the upside for the market. but look at the market right now. we've got the new york stock exchange volume down 50% right now versus its three month average. 25% for the nasdaq. nobody's trading. you want to know why, judge? because that move hasn't been made by the president. we need to get these two guys together. >> it's not only on the president. let's not make this a political -- >> but it is! >> -- commercial here. >> it is, judge! >> there's no deal, okay? both sides have to get and make a deal. that's where we stand right now. >> you have to make a deal! >> i want to know what to do in the market right now with your money. >> you have to make a deal, judge! if you don't get a deal you'll continue to see people on the sideline. there's been no reach across the aisle. there's no deal. it's the same gun to the head that's been there on both sides for the last six months. why would we expect that would change? i would hope it would change. but obviously we haven't seen it change. >> well, our portfolios are

hanging in the balance hoping for a deal. >> yeah. >> to the fiscal cliff. stocks extending losses following last week's worst weekly performance in five months. all on fiscal cliff concerns. chad morganlander is portfolio manager at washington crossing advisers. he joins us now. welcome. >> thank you for having me. >> what's the best strategy here? >> you have to move up the quality spectrum at this point in time. i would really -- i would emphasize that people should be much more conservative with their portfolios due to the fact that you're not getting a fiscal thrust going into 2013. and as well, you're going to have a recession in europe in 2013. >> investment strategy, as i see on my notes, 43% equities. just 7% in gold. 50% in high grade corporate bonds. why near half allocation to equities? >> well, you want to stay in equities because you still could see seams of opportunity. for instance, apple. a very good opportunity. walmart, for that matter. very good opportunity. undervalued equities.

but you also want to have your money all in the united states. you don't want to be exposed to europe, nor do you want to be exposed to the emerging markets at this point in time. of course, you want to inflation hedge. you do want to own gold. the federal reserve will continue to monetize. if we have this lackluster growth in 2013 with a 1% to 1.5% gdp number, then the federal reserve will come in, up their inflation target from 2% to, perhaps, 2.5%, and also add to monetization for the month. from $40 billion to $60 billion. >> gold's at a three-week high, by the way. a 7% allocation is where you see it. >> chad, you said you wanted to be u.s. centric. i understand you. there's certain companies. i'll mention one or two. yum brands and ibm. ibm probably gets close to 65% of their revenue outside the u.s. how do you make the distinction, i guess? >> it's going to be impossible with these megacap companies like walmart, yum or apple to

make that distinction. but what you want to do is you want to be as a dollar invested investor here in the united states, you don't want to be exposed to currency fluctuation. so in 2013 you may have the dollar rally, the euro be dragged down. at this point i would say be more exposed to the u.s. than perhaps overseas. >> you want to get defensive and pretty much -- pretty severely, right? consumer staples? things like that? >> right. what you're going to have happening here is expectations, s&p earnings are going to come down. around $115 a share. we're expecting $105. revenue growth, nonexistent for the last three quarters. this quarter the reason why the market has collapsed over the last month and a half is due to the fact that revenues haven't moved. that's what one should expect going into 2013. more of the same. so you want to get a little bit more defensive. you just want to be careful with your exposure to high beta

stocks at this point. >> chad, thanks for coming on. joe? >> i think he's talking about an environment that sounds kind of -- >> was that all right? >> it was great. >> it sounds bond friendly, so to speak. i think ultimately this coming down to -- i know pete follows it. i know guy follows it as well. do you want to stay with this dividend theme? and i think you do. because the fiscal cliff, the compromise, it's going to come in somewhere around 20% to 25% when you add on the move higher and then the 3.8 affordable care act tax you've got there. if the dividend tax is between 20 and 25, stay with that thesis. >> pete, should you be selling some of your big winners right now because of worries about taxes changing at the end of the year? >> i think a lot of people have. i'm one of them. i've sold off some of the names where i've actually done fairly well. although i've added to some of the others. it all is depending on which sector you're talking about. joe, you're talking about dividends. i have never understood this whole idea of you got to get out of these dividend stocks.

i think that's ludicrous. you can't get any kind of a yield anywhere else right now. you can look at the bond market. i think it's pathetic. i'd far more be in a name where i know the valuations of the company, know what it looks like going forward and if they've got pipelines whether it's in technology or big pharma, i want 4% or 5%. i don't want 1.5%. >> two big pharma names getting big pops today. courtney reagan. >> take a look at these two names. gillead and cell gene. gilead announcing positie ining results from its hepatitis c drug. cell gene announces its experimental pancreatic cancer drug also has improved survival rates. there are very little treatment for pancreatic cancer now. both those stocks getting a pop. >> doc, do you have something? >> gilead, scott, i do. that one blew through the 52 week high which was around 70 bucks. blew all the way up toward 73

here. they're buying 75 calls. buying 70 calls. they're betting that this move continues. and it's one of those pipeline plays that pete talks about. whether or not they're the one that continues to develop the pipeline or whether they get acquired, that's always something you think about when you have a successful billion dollar drug like this. >> pete and then guy. >> go ahead. >> what i was going to say, gilead we've talked about forever. an all time high, i believe. if i had to pick between the two today right now these price points, i would go celgene. i think celgene has more upside over the longer period of time. gilead we love. given the volume it'll trade today and move we've seen i'd be inclined to pull the rip cord. >> keep an eye on amgene. when you're looking at value asia -- valuations.

up next on the half, apple. it's america's most valuable company. arguably its most influential. but is its dominance starting to crack? finally, a date for the launch of research in motion's blackberry 10. but is it too little too late? more "halftime" straight ahead. with the fidelity stock screener, you can try strategies from independent experts and see what criteria they use. such as a 5% yield on dividend-paying stocks. then you can customize the strategies

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all right. welcome back. apple shares falling yet again today in the recent slide into bear market territory is leading some to question the company's future. in today's "usa today" michael wolf asks whether the age of apple is ending. got the paper right here. here's the article. in it, joe, michael wolf says among other things the phone market, tablet market, content selling businesses have become hugely competitive fields. he also says that management is suddenly in dramatic flux. also questions apparently about tim cook and his ability going forward. >> does he mention within the

article who the actual competition is on those ipads, on those macs, on those iphones? i don't think he does. ultimately that's the answer. what's going on right now is a derisking process with apple. we talked about wanting to buy apple. i want to buy apple down here. i think a lot of apple's fate is now tied to these options expirations you have on a monthly basis. >> you're hesitant to pull the trigger. >> i'm hesitant to pull the trigger because of option expiration friday and the belief it's going to slide more. by waiting i've actually done myself a favor. i want to wait and see what comes out on the other side of options expraugs. i'm obviously very close to doing it. the tremendous amount of cash they have on their balance sheet, to me that acts as a put underneath the market. if they wanted to do a significant buyback, think about where apple would be on the other side of that. >> you're fighting against, though, you could name any metric you want and make the fundamental case on apple. if you're fighting against the psychology change, that's a new dimension that you have to take into consideration. >> okay. so what you need to fight that

is you need actual earnings results. i believe in january you will have the same type of reaction that you had january of 2012 when you get the earnings report, when you hit the reset button, when you find out that apple was able to sell 45 million iphones in the quarter. you're going to see the institutional money managers come right back in and overweight apple. >> all right. one apple bear is now turning bullish. joining us now on the fast line is doug kass, founder of sea breeze partners and a cnbc contributor. welcome back to halftime. good to have you on today. >> hey, judge. >> why are you buying apple here? >> back at $700, less than two months ago, i decided to put the consensus on mute. the stock was priced to perfection. it was the beneficiary, as you just mentioned, of large fund inflows. it was a great deal of optimism regarding the product upgrades. earnings estimates were constantly being upgraded. there was almost a religious belief on the part of retail and

institutional investors about the stock. i was concerned about the economy at that time. remember, they sell a very high priced product. gary kaminsky has been discussing with causality there. i was concerned about the ability to deliver a large quantity and high quality product. a number of other things like the changing competitive landscape that we'll mention. at 700 it was overpriced. at 536, not so much. the stock's down $165 in 45 days. the negatives are now well known. they're on the front burner. i'm not as concerned about global economic growth as i was in september. the asian city surprise index best reading since february 2011. even the eu city surprise index, though still weak, has gone from minus 100 in june to minus 27 this week. apple is no longer the beneficiary of fund flows. it's been the source of funds for two months. no one expects a wow product

anymore. so at 540 i use a dividend discount model. it implies that the market is projecting growth rate for the company of around 3% per year. i think this is too low. but even if earnings are flat over the next three years, by year end 2015, something that joe mentioned, apple is going to have a cash position of $260 a share and no debt. i'm paying $540 less $260 year end 2016 for core earnings of $45 a share. that's about 6.5 times. when the stock was 700, you backed out debt you were playing 12.5 times. >> this is simply a pricing issue for you. some of the things you mentioned as potential negatives way back when when you were bearish on the stock, overowned the competition, et cetera, weaker economy, it's not like those have gone away. >> yes. it's no longer overowned. there's no longer extreme investor -- it's an iconic company with a fortress balance sheet with core earnings of close to $50 a share i can buy

at net of cash in 2015, 6.5 times earnings. >> guy? >> i'll push back a little bit. is there any concern in the recess of your mind their products at some point down the line, not today, tomorrow, not next year but at some point become commoditized once they lose the cool factor, other companies have the same products and it's just like everybody else? >> yeah. i'm assuming that. i'm assuming there's no improvement in margins. i'm looking at an eight page spread sheet and earnings model i have produced for the company. core earnings of 46, 47, $50 a share. even with a commoditization. i think that there will always -- yeah. many of my concerns back at 700, guy, still exists. there are continued challenges of delivering a high quality product in quantity. we have to see how cook does. but i don't think you're paying for it much anymore. and there were no concerns back 45 days ago. >> doug, fwood to have you on the show as always. thanks so much for calling in.

>> thank you, judge. >> doug kass for us. sea breeze partners on the fast line for us. pete, is now the time to buy apple? >> sure. >> plain and simple. >> absolutely. you just asked plain and simple. i'm going to say yes. absolutely. no hesitation. >> no worries about -- there seems to have been a dramatic psychology change around these stocks. our guy jim cramer has talked about that. something is not right in the minds of investors here about apple and its prospects going forward. >> some of that might have to do with some of that lagging indicator. for me when i look at the market and the market propels itself up in the s&p 500 and then starts to drop, suddenly we start to see the foks as you brought up at the top of the show, are people getting out of some of their winners? i'd say absolutely yes. a lot of these fund managers who owned apple didn't start buying it -- if doug's implying they were buying it at 650 i don't necessarily agree. i think a lot of these funds are in at 350, 400, 450. as it starts to pull back some of that pressure to the downside very rapidly, obviously looks

like it's wanting to settle in here near some of the moving averages around 535, 545. >> lett talk about a company that has certainly had a lot of pain to apple's gain. that's research in motion. announcing today that after many delays, too many to count, probably, it's unveiling the blackberry 10 platform and new smartphones at an event on january 30th. let's bring in herb greenberg now with more on blackberry's announcement. what do you make of this, herb? is it too little, too late? somebody's buying the stock today. >> why would anybody buy the stock on this news? this is not new news? other than the fact they've given you a date. we knew blackberry 10 was coming. we don't know what it's going to do. let me tell you something. if you looked over the weekend and watched the ads for the windows phone, nokia phone, htc windows phone, you said that's a really cool phone. they're going to be challenged to bring that into being one of the top three. blackberry here has been losing steam. i have to tell you something. all those people that have blackberries, we're so used to

carrying one phone now. you have your phone, whatever it's going to be. i think it's too little, too late. it may be the best. it hmay be good. it may be great. they're going to have to change an entire mindset that's already occur zbld i think people are willing to carry more devices than just one phone now. because of the choices out there. how about this? the fact they're going to announce this. they're going to roll it out at a time when people are starting to question apple for the very first time in an awfully long time. >> what they're doing is people are going to only question -- the questions on apple are, there's no big great new whiz bang in their phones. in other words, they can't top themselves technologically. but they're still the best. or if people look at the s3, among the best out there. people are lining up right now. they like the galaxy s3 from samsung. the apple iphone. then there's that windows phone which looks so cool. >> dr. j., you want to play ball? >> i agree with herb. i think the end of january practically is way too far out

in front to get long this stock on that announcement. that's no new news. on the other hand, i think you just named the three big competitors that they have to be very concerned about. and that windows phone does look very cool. the samsung as joe knows, i bought that samsung galaxy tab, the 2, because i thought that was so cool. there's a lot of great devices to tell us they're not going to bring out this device till after the holiday shopping season is ludicrous. >> i will tell you one thing, though. that is i've watched wall street do this for so long. you know, they look for events. the traders look for events. who knows? they'll continue to trade this thing higher into the -- into the real event. and then it's anybody's guess. you've seen it so many times. >> unless it gets some traction and it gives rim a boost for the first time in a long time. i'm almost looking at this chart that we were showing -- put up the one month of rim versus apple. >> it hasn't gotten great reviews so far based on what people have seen. >> when was the last time -- i'm having a hard time believing that this chart is even correct.

that over the last month, research in motion is up 13% and apple is down 13%. >> scott, real quick. >> when's the last time you saw research in motion outpace apple over a one month period? i can't remember one. >> scott, if you can, toss the metric in that short interest on rim is now 18.2%. which is the highest it's been in multiyears. i think a lot of this is that short interest unwinds. >> herb, thanks as always. coming up on the half, three of the street's biggest calls. our traders tell you which upgrades and downgrades are right on the money today. later, will the aggressive push by retailers to get consumers shopping this holiday season rally the stocks or backfire on shareholders? stay tuned to find out.

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♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] 'tis the season to discover the kid in all of us. the memories that last, start with the gifts that last. ♪ enjoy free shipping and great values on your holiday shopping from l.l.bean. welcome back. let's get to some of the biggest calls on the street in today's top three trades. we make the turn on halftime. citigroup added to the u.s. one list at bank of america merrill.

analysts citing valuation and leverage to a housing recovery. price target 45 buck. nice upside. at least the outlook's there. >> i like the management change of recent in the entire space. i think the financial sector is where you go here first if you're looking to bottom pick. morgan stanley, a name i talked about last week, a name i'd own. >> cat's been cut from neutral to overweight at jpmorgan. shares holding relatively firm despite that. >> you make an excellent point. price action on friday, interesting day. stock sold off, rallied late. today holding in off this jpmorgan downgrade. i would say if i'm trading it or investing in it use today's low i think around 84.25 or so to be long the stock trade against that. disney, dis upgraded to buy from neutral at citi. firm there sees earnings growth resuming in 2014 and '15. stock getting a modest bump, a third of a percent. >> extremely modest. but i think this is an opportunity if you've been waiting. this is what you've been waiting for. stock pulled right back one of the moving averages.

i like this name a lot. 2014, 2015, a great opportunity. $54 price target is on this as well. i own the stock. i've sold some upside calls. doug -- excuse me. doug. i'm going to be holding this for a long time, scott. kayla tausche has another mover from the tech space today as we watch all areas of the market. kayla? >> scott, that mover is microsoft. msft down about 1.5% today. the reason is comments from ceo steve balmer to a french daily the parisian saying sales of the tablet have been modest largely because of availability. they only sell it online and in select stores. that could hurt sales of the product announced last month. >> guy, do you have a trade on microsoft? a lot of people have liked the stock. >> i continue -- this now got my investor hat on. i do like microsoft here. i think they're diverse enough. i think the tape is setting up in such a way that we could rally from here. i think this move down to 28 and change in microsoft, that's a big move today in the stock. yeah. i think you can be long the name. >> pete? >> i like the name as well. i like windows 8.

i think it's going to be a bigger success than a lot of people are projecting it to be. i like the fact they're getting involved in the hand set market. if you've not seen this nokia lumina phone, it looks interesting as well. i think that's one of the areas you could see some strength. great dividend yield while you're waiting. >> microsoft used to be a growth story. now an income story. if you're an income investor you absolutely own microsoft. if you're a growth investor, look at cirrus logic. sky works solutions. two names you own. >> shows you what kind of year for microsoft. stock up 9% year to date. nasdaq down five straight week. it's pulled back as the nasdaq in general has come back. done quite well. next up on the half, black thursday looks to be the new black friday. but which retailer will win the holiday pricing battle? our traders make that call. you know him for scoring on the field. now former giants' wide receiver phil mcconky is helping vets

find jobs. great story coming up. we'll talk to him next. oods' fi. and his new boss told him two things -- cook what you love, and save your money. joe doesn't know it yet, but he'll work his way up from busser to waiter to chef before opening a restaurant specializing in fish and game from the great northwest. he'll start investing early, he'll find some good people to help guide him, and he'll set money aside from his first day of work to his last, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. it's just common sense. well, if itmr. margin?margin. don't be modest, bob. you found a better way to pack a bowling ball. that was ups. and who called ups? you did, bob. i just asked a question. it takes a long time to pack a bowling ball. the last guy pitched more ball packers. but you... you consulted ups. you found a better way. that's logistics. that's margin. find out what else ups knows. i'll do that. you're on a roll. that's funny. i wasn't being funny, bob. i know.

welcome back to the halftime report. target and toys r us join

several other major retailers today by announcing they'll open their doors on thanksgiving night. courtney reagan joins us with the latest on what could soon be called black thursday, courtney. >> exactly, right, scott? 11 days until black friday. for some retailers black friday is actually ten days away. which, yes, makes it thanksgiving thursday. retail competition getting aggressive with the timing of door busters. lord & taylor opening the flag ship manhattan foundation from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on thanksgiving day as the macy's thanksgiving parade marches blocks away. sears, members can shop door busters as early as sunday, november 18th online. walmart's door busters 8:00 p.m. thursday and progressively roll out from there. toys r us which had one of the earliest openings last year will open 8:00 p.m. thanksgiving ooefgening and remain open throughout the fight. for the first time ever sports authority will open most of its stores at midnight.

as far as the financial impact of black friday most analysts say it just shifts timing of when consumers make purchases. 40% of holiday sales are typically made in the last ten days before christmas. every year black friday sales seem to move earlier. while many protest retailers opening on a national holiday, retailers say they're simply giving shoppers what they want. last year nearly 25% of black friday shoppers did hit the store by midnight. scott, were you one of them? >> i was not. i don't think i'll be shopping either, courtney, on thanksgiving night this year. thanks, guys. does this factor in at all as to how you would trade these stocks? guy? >> me, no. do you want people on the road thanksgiving night? >> are you going to buy target here because they're opening thanksgiving night? >> i have reasons to buy target or walmart. that's not one of them. don't be eating turkey, getting all sleepy, having a couple eggnogs and getting on -- that's a public service announcement

from your friends at fast. >> these guys all try and get in the wheel house of the guys who perfect this thing in the discount world, tjx and ross stores. they're all trying to get into what they already own. it's a mistake. do not buy these stocks based on this early -- >> do you buy these a stocks regardless? >> i like some of the name. at this point in time i don't own walmart for exactly that reason. >> you like tjx the best. >> absolutely. >> i wouldn't ignore some of the specialty names. the market is troughing if we believe that expectation to come about, you look at a name like urban outfitters which has anthropology. that's going to do real well. there's a nice recovery going on at old navy. look at gap stores. i think that works. it always works. limited brands, victoria's secret, can't go wrong there. >> urban has had a great year. dr. j.? >> i would like at the ones that, of course, are going to be where people have to go in and shop, judge. that's durables.

that's over at home depot and lowe's. that's where i would go. i wouldn't go into saks. >> i was going to go there next, doc. not go shopping there, next. thinking of the higher end retail, we haven't talked about that at all. as you head into the holidays whether you guys are optimistic or not about the sakes of the world and nordstrom, tiffany. >> except on the east coast, scott. in other words if i want that higher end, maybe the macy's for their exposure outside of that corridor. but the stuff right in that eastern corridor, i worry that most of those dollars will be spent in home depot and lowe's. great for those retailers, but it could be a little bit like a lump of coal in the stocking for the kids. >> in honor of veterans day, we're joined by nfl superstar phil mcconkey and chance sims. gentlemen, good to have you on the show.

thanks so much for coming on today. >> our pleasure. >> thanks for having us. >> first and foremost we obviously salute your service. we commend what you guys are doing. chance, tell us about it. >> yeah. academy securities is a registered broker dealer owned and operated by military veterans, specifically post-9/11 veterans the majority of our ownership and operation in the company. we founded academy securities with a simple mission. it's really to bring industry veterans alongside military veterans to create a first class financial services firm. we offer investment banks services. we offer public finance underwriting. trading services. we have offices in new york, chicago and san diego. >> both of you guys served in the navy. it's important to point that out. phil, good to see you as well. wish your giants looked better yesterday. >> no, you don't. don't be a funny man. >> that's neither here nor there. >> they operate better under pressure. when their backs are against the wall. >> the biggest challenge facing veterans coming home from the

battlefield is what? >> i think utilizing and understanding how to translate the skills that they learned in the military to civilian life. to corporate america. and if you think about it, what they do really fits in well with what we do in competitive environments. financial services, construction services, financial news. we're all in highly competitive environments. to bring in a military veteran who has the structure, the discipline, the team work, the leadership skills that they learned in the military, bring them over to the corporate side, the private sector side, getting them to understand how well they could fit in and getting corporations to understand how to utilize best those skills to enhance their own company, i think we all win under that scenario. >> phil, give us your view on the markets. all right? it's something we obviously here talk about every day. we're watching the fiscal cliff looming out there. how do you feel? >> well, i think -- we talk about veterans.

we're that close to veterans day. we talk about the market. the academy looks at what these returning veterans have done for us in our history. look at the world war ii veterans who saved us from tyranny. they came back and offered us and provided us great financial prosperity. we believe these returns veterans can do the same thing. we need to look to them not only in the short term for the markets right now, but our future going forward. hey, listen. most of these people joined the military. they volunteered after we were attacked on september 11th. after war started. that tells you all you need to know about them. and you've go -- i'm telling you that they coming back can enhance any operation. you guys are all traders back there. you tell me that's not a great trade to bring in some of these people into your organization. >> yeah, no. i would think so. chance, you would figure that some of the skills that the military men and women learn out in the arena, so to speak, translate fairly well in the financial services industry. certainly discipline does. >> yeah, no, absolutely right.

leadership. a lot of these men and women have been in stressful environments having leadership positions that translate very well into the financial services arena. discipline like you mentioned. that is extremely important. on a daily basis, discipline is so important. attention to detail. you have men and women that have been in positions that if they didn't pay attention to things, people died. now in the financial services industry, taking those skillsets, bringing them over to the private sector is enormous. >> phil, you guys are doing a great thing. can you suit up with matt mccal um and roger and maybe beat army? it's been about 90 years since you guys have beaten them. >> it's been a while. watch out for army. they laid one on air force. we've got to be cognizant of that fact. i was with roger the other day. you talk about competitors, roger's up there. that guy, he thinks he can go out right now and play. with the rules the way you are right now you can't maul these receivers anymore. at 55 i think i can go out and get open in the nfl today.

>> staalbach has become one hell of a businessman, too, as you know. >> thank you guys so much. >> we'll talk to you again soon, i hope. to learn more about academy security's efforts in hiring military veterans please go to www.academysecurities.com. next up on "half," the jc penney slump continues. today it's the biggest loser on the s&p. is the stock nearing a point where it looks attractive? the answer when "halftime" comes back. having you ship my gifts couldn't be easier.

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in 14 minutes on "power lunch," deals on a deadline. we will show you the money moves you're starting to see ahead of the fiscal cliff. another sex scandal forces another ceo out of a job. is an affair really that big a deal in this day and age? our guest says yes and tallies up the damage. and bond. he rakes it in at the box office. we will show you how you can play the secret agent success on "power lunch." now back to scott and more. he's always shaking and stirring. >> all right, ty, thanks. see you in a bit. point out the market here as well. we have gone positive albeit barely. but for a morning that spent most of it in negative territory, sentiment changing just a touch during the lunch hour. dow industrial good for two points right now. jc penney, not so much. it's one of today's worst performers. down another 9% today.

doc, what would get you to buy the stock here? >> boy, scott. again, just what we were talking about going into the break. the fact we've got the holidays coming up here and that these guys' strategy has not worked out. sales for the year, they're over $2 billion under where they were a year ago. this one's going the wrong direction. i don't know how they get them in. certainly the bets right now today, judge, are very bearish. twice as many puts trading as calls. they're trading them all the way down to about the february 15 strike. if i had to, i'd say, well, if we can fall down to that level i guess i'm a little more interested. the vultures are circling here, scott. >> pete is shaking his head. i mean -- >> this thing's going lower. >> is it fair to start asking the question whether this company is going to be around in a couple years? >> it's probably a little bit early for that. we know this is going to be a turnaround thing for ron johnson. was he the right guy? a lot of people thought he was absolutely the right guy. i still go back to you walk into an apple store, you're going

there with your wallet out and you know exactly what you're going to buy. this is a different retail environment. unfortunately when you look at where they're making their money now, 23% of the revenue is coming from clearance items. it was 15% in q-3. you're talking about a company that unfortunately they're drawing them in but they're drawing them in just on that clearance side. that's not good. >> all right. the euro, let's turn attention to currencies. euro bouncing off two month lows versus the u.s. dollar today after greek leaders approve a budget for 2013. does it mark a turnaround for the euro? todd gordon of aspen trading group with more. we're asking about a turnaround for the euro. it was sitting at 1.30 or so for such a long time. it's dropped a couple pennies. now talking about a turnashd. >> last week i came on the 5:00 p.m. show and said to buy 1.27. i think you take profits on that. take those 10 or 15 pips and buy lunch today for a veteran. i think we got to go the other side now. go short euro through the 1.27

level. greece has overcome two olympic sized hurdles. $13 trillion in austerity measures and 2013 budget. now we have the eu reluctant to hand out the next aid tranche for $31 billion. there's reluctance through this week. we have a big event coming up in greece friday. there's due about $5 billion in short-term treasury by bills. they're going to need to up the urgency to meet this. i think the propensity in this quiet market is to go short euro. >> what will the levels be? give me the trade. >> what i want to do, like i said, close your longs. go short through 1.27. take profit. watch out the other side of this. we have fed minutes. there's the dollar side of the equation. st. louis fed bullard said if there's mention of not purchasing u.s. treasury bonds in the minutes, that's going to be dollar positive. that'll excel this trade. >> todd, thanks. todd gordon for us at aspen trading. for more currency trades watch

money in motion friday nights at 5:30 p.m. coming40%. we're trading the biggest midday movers. are traders are fast but they're not always right. we're learning from their mistakes next.

all right. well, our trader are quick but they're not always right. let's listen to our own pete najarian and what he said about ibm. >> i think ibm did catch me a little bit off of what i expected. i thought they'd put up some better numbers. when you really look at some of the numbers, can you see where they're getting some strength. i still think this stock's going a lot higher. >> would you buy it now? >> yes, 100%. >> not feeling so good. >> look at that man's face. >> i still like the name. in the face of some adversity -- this thing has been a little bit painful. would i still buy this name? yes, i like the name. earlier on, chad was talking about some of the money he's managing. he talked about apple but he also talked about some other names. microsoft was one. ibm the other. i'm sure he is looking at the same things we are, which is on a valuation basis, they had a

weaker quarter than expected but i still think they can perform. >> anybody that would stay away? >> i thought 193-ish was going to hold. i think ibm a 1.89 and change. >> sorry, i would buy it. >> doc, you going against your bro? >> no, i agree with joe that oracle of omaha buying it right around that exact level, joe, $188, $190. i think it is a good buy. >> "pops & drops" now. the biggest movers in big day training. titanium metals popping 42%. >> bought by precision cast parts. joe talks about pcp. i've talked about it before. even with the move you're seeing in pcp today, i still think that stock is worthy of a look. >> when you look at this name of, it sold off from where it was not too long ago. it was in the low 50s pulled back to the 47 area. today a lots of option activity.

>> jeffries? >> kudos to david faber for breaking the story. it is a great story really because i think they've got a very interesting mix of stocks. it's also interesting that richard handler's going to be the guy that runs this thing with the other two guys kind of moving to the sidelines. i like that. >> sherwin. popping 6%. >> october 25th earnings comes out. latin american sales down 4%. they've said here's our focus, on north america. today they go out, they pick up 3,300 stores in mexico. stay long, use a $140 stock on sherwin. >> the newest installment in the james bond saga knocked them dead at the box office over the weekend. sold tickets galore. this weekend raking in nearly $90 million in sales, making it the most successful debut ever for a bond film. >> you know who went to high school with him?

s simon hobbs. those bricks stick together, baby. >> simon hobbs could be the next -- >> maybe we'll give him a different letter. coming up on "power," is the u.s. about to surpass saudi arabia in oil production? the experts say yes. how will it happen in tune in top of the hour. final trades on the other side of the break. ♪ [ female announcer ] today, it's not just about who lives in the white house, it's about who lives in the yellow house,

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whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express by december 22nd for christmas delivery. time for the "final trades." carnival cruise line seeing a lot of puts trading, i mean like 40 times normal numbers. somebody's betting on the downside here and i'm following them. >> financials goldman sachs. >> kick lick cals, big pharma. eli lilly. >> costco. i like the way it's bouncing from this $95 level. >> that does it for us. catch more "fast money" tonight at